Category: Meena Raghunathan

‘Tis the Season to Rejoice. And Make Santas!

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With a 5-year old to entertain, I am always looking for suitable activities. And Christmas brings not only joy but a host of Santa crafts too. Like Ganesh, Santa lends himself to being rendered in paper, board, foil, plastacine, with balloons, with cotton wool….you name it. The ability to cut out circle-ish shapes is the main criterion for being able to undertake Santa-crafts. My house is currently filled with good, bad and indifferent renditions of Santa!

Santa

As a corollary, I was curious to learn about Santa sculptures. I did not recall seeing any statues of this beloved character. And they seem to be surprisingly few in number—or at least, they don’t seem to be well documented.

But there is one very well-known sculpture—famous in some eyes, infamous in others!

This is the piece by the American artist Paul McCarthy. Always controversial, McCarthy works in several media—performance, sculpture, painting, installation and ‘painting in action’. He is an analyst and commenter on mass media, consumerism, contemporary society and the hypocrisy, double standards and repression of American society. His objective is to showcase everyday activities and the mess they create.

In 2001, the city of Rotterdam commissioned McCarthy to create a Santa to be placed at the prominent Schouwburgplein square near De Doelen, the city’s orchestra building. He was paid 180,000 euros, a very reasonable amount for a large sculpture by such a prominent artist.

McCarthy delivered the bronze sculpture—and controversy started. Santa was supposedly holding a pine tree in his hand. But many saw the object in his hand as having sexual overtones, and the statue gained the nickname of Butt Plug Gnome.

There were protests by the people of Rotterdam who refused to allow the sculpture to be installed in Schouwburgplein. City officials then tried to install it in Rotterdam’s main shopping street, but this plan also met with resistance. It was four years before McCarthy’s sculpture was set up and unveiled in the city’s Museum Park. It stayed at that spot for three years. However, thanks to general discontent about its highly-visible location, it was moved to a less prominent location within the Museum Park itself.

It was only on November 28, 2008 that the sculpture, which was intended by the artist to critique the consumer culture that surrounds Christmas,  and  is supposed to depict the king of instant satisfaction, symbol of consumer enjoyment, found a permanent home in the Eendrachtsplein Square in Rotterdam.

Another well-known statue of Santa which again has a complicated story is in Turkey. The original Santa was St. Nicholas who was born in 270 AD, in Patara, a small town in Antalya province in modern-day Turkey. He accepted the Christian faith and became the bishop of the nearby town of Demre. The story goes that he used to be so upset by poverty and unhappiness that he used all his wealth to combat it. He dropped bags gold coins down chimneys and gave nuts and fruit to good children, and often helped to look after the sick and elderly—one can see the linkages with activities associated with present-day Santa. Various generations of Santa statues stood in Demre for many years.  But in 2008, the then-standing statue was removed during some construction work by city officials, and has not been replaced despite protests. Authorities say they will re-install the statue when they find an appropriate spot for it!

Nearer home, there are less controversial, though also less permanent Santas. India’s well-known sand artist Sudharshan Patnaik has made sand sculptures of the beloved figure for the holiday season over the last few years.  Last year he created a giant 1.5 tonnes , 60-feet wide sand-and-tomato Santa Claus on Gopalpur Beach. Before this, during Covid in December 2020, he created a giant three-dimensional sand installation of two Santas holding a mask, carrying the message of wearing masks.

May this holiday season bring peace, health and happiness to all!

Meena





Forts, forts, forts…

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A visit to Rajasthan leaves one with a head swimming with visions of elephants and camels, turbans and bandhini saries, sweets and more sweets .  And of course forts and palaces. I spent last week at Rajasthan, and so obviously these grandiose structures are very much on my mind.

Jaisalmer Fort by Night

Which got me wandering: what are forts vs. fortresses vs. castles vs. palaces,? Well, here we go:

A fort is not a residence, but rather a military fortification. These structures were built specifically for war situations, and used to defend specific territories. A fortress is similar, but it is a larger fortified area than a fort.

A palace is primarily a residential place, occupied by royalty, heads of state, or very rich and important people. They are not fortified against attacks, but rather designed for comfort and elegance, and are often status symbols. 

Castles are large residences or a group of large buildings that have been constructed with strong walls to protect against attacks. Basically, castles are fortified residences. 

Apparently, there are about a thousand forts in India. Going strictly by the book, most forts in India are either fortresses or castles. But the British when classifying them, used the conventional British system and called them all forts.  The oldest surviving fort is thought to be the Qila Mubarak in Bathinda, Punjab, whose origins go back to the period 90-110 AD. This Qila was built by Raja Deb, a Rajput king.

That is a pretty ancient fort! But the thinking about forts goes back to even earlier times. Kautilya, the man who wrote prodigiously on all aspects of governing kingdoms, as far as the 3rd Century BC, had discussed various types of forts and fortifications.

‘On all the four quarters of the boundaries of the kingdom, defensive fortifications against an enemy in war shall be constructed on grounds best fitted for the purpose: a water-fortification (audaka) such as an island in the midst of a river, or a plain surrounded by low ground; a mountainous fortification (párvata) such as a rocky tract or a cave; a desert (dhánvana) such as a wild tract devoid of water and overgrown with thicket growing in barren soil; or a forest fortification (vanadurga) full of wagtail (khajana), water and thickets.’ he says in Book II of the Arthashastra in a section which elaborates “The Duties of Government Superintendents”. He goes into great detail not only about the construction of the fort, ramparts, towers, turrets, gates  and staircases, but even to the extent of specifying the width of various types of roads within the forts which would make for easy movement in war and peace. He details out how the spaces within the fort should be planned, and where which facility should be set up.`

However strongly fortified a fort, the danger of sieges was always present. It was for this reason that Chanakya laid down that: ‘There shall be a water-well for every ten houses. Oils, grains, sugar, salt, medicinal articles, dry or fresh vegetables, meadow grass, dried flesh, haystock, firewood, metals, skins, charcoal, tendons (snáyu), poison, horns, bamboo, fibrous garments, strong timber, weapons, armour, and stones shall also be stored (in the fort) in such quantities as can be enjoyed for years together without feeling any want. Of such collection, old things shall be replaced by new ones when received.’

Well, I suppose all this detailing could possibly have been done by any conscientious bureaucrat. What really gives the Chanakya twist to the discussion on forts is Book XIII, “Strategic Means to Capture a Fortress”. It mentions such tactics as: Sowing the Seeds Of Dissension; Enticement Of Kings By Secret Contrivances; The Work Of Spies in a Siege; The Operation of a Siege; etc.!

Wow! India not only has the most amazing forts, it probably has the oldest document guiding their conception!

–Meena

Cufflinks are a Man’s Best Friend

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It seems a little unfair to insist that only women crave for diamonds and gold and jewelry. Down the ages, men have worn a lot of jewelry—one only has to look at paintings and pictures not only of Indian Kings and nobles, but of rich people from around the world. If the Koh-i-noor is on the crown of the Queen of England, the Cullinan (the largest gem quality diamond ever found on earth)  is on the scepter of the King of England, and Cullinan II, the second largest diamond, is on his imperial state crown.

Today, male jewelry is back with a bang. One only has to look at rappers and their gold chains. Closer home, apart from being a means of self-expression, it is both a way to show off wealth, as well as to appease the gods. The popularity of the navaratna ring, which is supposed to cure all ailments, bring wealth and good fortune, is more often seen on men than women. As also rudraksha bracelets and chains.

Of course it’s not all about flashy chunky stuff which sometimes runs into kilos (think Bappi Lahiri). There is also well-designed, subtle stuff.

From crowns to chains to jeweled collars, to bracelets, pendants, brooches, ear rings, to ankle adornments, there have been male versions of almost every piece of jewelry.

However, cufflinks are fairly unique in that they are quintessentially male jewelry rarely worn by women.  There has always been a need for some device to fasten shirt cuffs. In the 13th century, men used ribbons to do this. It was in the early 17th century that cufflinks as we know them today started to emerge. King Charles II popularized them, but they still remained very expensive items which were handmade, and therefore confined to people who could afford them.

It was only in 1876 that George Krementz, a German immigrant, adapted the manufacturing process used to make bullets to make cufflinks, and started mass production. And from that point on, they gained wide usage and popularity.

A cufflink has three parts:

The front face – the top of the cufflink, which is the decorative part, with a design, gemstone, or any other attractive design.

The post – the part that goes through the cuff holes and is attached to the toggle.

The toggle – the bottom part of the cufflink, which locks the link in place and prevents the cufflink from slipping out of the cuff holes

Cufflinks

While a cufflink may be a cufflink to many of us, apparently there are several types:

Whale Back cufflinks have a straight post, a flat head, and a tail shaped like a “whale” flips completely flat against the post.

Fixed back or fixed stud cufflinks do not have any moveable hardware. This means putting them in requires that they are manually secured by pushing the backing through the buttonhole. 

Bullet back cufflinks have a metal bar that attaches to the bridge of the cufflinks. This metal bar, which has a bullet aesthetic, rotates 90 degrees.

Chain link cufflinks are made of two usually identical faces attached by a chain.

Stud or button cufflinks look and work like studs.

Ball return cufflinks are those whose rear features a largish ball, attached to the decorative face by either a chain or curved post.

Locking Dual-Action cufflinks are secured shut with a mechanism similar to that of a wristwatch.

Silk Knot cufflinks are made entirely from silk, with two identical knots attached to a cord.

As I look around me, fewer and fewer men seem to be wearning cufflinks, something I felt sad about, because this is definitely an elegant addition to men’s attire. But a report on the cufflinks market says that the market is at $1.52 billion, and predicted to grow at 5.9% over the next few years. So maybe their demise is not so imminent after all!

Predictably, China is the biggest exporter, but surprisingly, India is one of the importers!

I shall surely look out more carefully to spot cufflinks around me!

–Meena

Trendhim.com; Nextmsc.com

Getting Serious about Play!

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Last week, we talked about the International Dolls’ Museum in Delhi.  And we lamented about its not keeping up with the times and re-inventing itself.

A model from which it could draw inspiration is The Strong National Museum of Play, Rochester, New York, USA. It was established in 1969 based on the collection of one individual, Margaret Woodbury Strong, who by that point in time has collected over 27,000 dolls. Like Shankar who set up the Dolls’ Museum, she started by exhibiting parts of her collection and later added two wings to her palatial house to exhibit to select visitors. Over time, she started thinking about setting up a museum for the public.   Margaret Strong died in 1969, leaving her collection and her wealth for a museum, which was finally opened to the public in 1982.

The Museum’s display of the collection of dolls is only a small part of what it does. It is ‘a highly interactive, collections-based museum, devoted to the history and exploration of play’ and sees itself as ‘the ultimate play destination of all ages’. To meet this mission, it has interactive exhibits in a space of 1,50,000 sft, online exhibits, the World Video Game Hall of Fame, a Play Lab which is a maker-space, and a Skyline Climb. The Strong Museum takes the effort to ensure that the experiences are accessible for people of all abilities. Many of the exhibits on the online museum are viewable to all of us on Google Arts and Crafts.

A very interesting initiative of the Museum is the National Toy Hall of Fame. Every year, the Hall of Fame recognizes and inducts toys that have ‘inspired creative play and enjoyed popularity over a sustained period’. The public (I think only those who live in America) are invited to nominate their favorite toys based on the following criteria:

  • ‘Icon-status: the toy is widely recognized, respected, and remembered.
  • Longevity: the toy is more than a passing fad and has enjoyed popularity over multiple generations.
  • Discovery: the toy fosters learning, creativity, or discovery through play.
  • Innovation: the toy profoundly changed play or toy design. A toy may be inducted on the basis of this criterion without necessarily having met all of the first three.’

What a wonderful way to engage with the community at large! The toys in the Hall of Fame include everyday objects, like sand which is one of the most popular materials for children to play with; blankets which children can make into anything from tents to disguises; to cardboard boxes which as we know are more interesting to kids than the most expensive toy packed inside. The list of course includes items created to be played with—from balls, playing cards, rubber ducks, girl-dolls, hoola-hoops, jump-ropes and  jigsaw puzzles to Rubik’s Cube and Nintendo.

Games and toys

The Museum has the core philosophy that ‘Play sharpens minds and boosts creativity. When children play, they learn to solve problems, make decisions, express ideas and recognize boundaries’, the Museum focuses attention on educators, with special grade-related exhibits and lesson-plans for teachers.

The Museum plays a very serious role in research too. The Strong’s Brian Sutton-Smith Library and Archives of Play is devoted to the intellectual, social, and cultural history of play and is a 230,000-volume research library and archives of primary and secondary sources, including scholarly works, professional journals, periodicals, trade catalogues, children’s books, comic books, manuscripts, personal papers, business records, and more.

Another important collection is The International Centre for the History of Electronic Games which has 60,000 artefacts and thousands of archival material on the history of video games.

A third collection is The National Archives of Game Show History which ‘preserves the history of game shows—from the earliest panel shows and quiz scandals, to the games and puzzles of the 1970s, to the big money network series and the classic games now in primetime’.

So efforts on every front to be relevant to a wide audience, and to keep up with the times.

A lesson or two or three, our museums can learn?

–Meena

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A Prime Minister, A Cartoonist, and A Dolls’ Museum : Marking Children’s Day

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We celebrate November 14th, the birth anniversary of our first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, as Children’s Day. This is because not only did he love children, but children loved him right back! They called him ‘Chacha’—a name that stuck even with adults.

Nehru understood children and the need for loving and carefully nurturing them, as also their importance to the future of the nation.  ‘Children are like buds in a garden and should be carefully and lovingly nurtured as they are the future of the nation and citizens of tomorrow. The children of today will make the citizens of tomorrow. The way we bring them up will determine the future of the country’ he said. He also had a clear vision on the purpose and role of education: ‘The object of education is to produce a desire to serve the community as a whole and to apply the knowledge gained not only for personal but for public welfare.’

A contemporary who also loved and valued children was Shankaran Pillai, India’s first political cartoonist. Shankar, as he was called, and Nehru, enjoyed a great friendship, though the cartoonist featured the PM in over 4000 cartoons, many of which were merciless. Nehru was a tall leader—not only could he laugh at himself but he also appreciated the need to do this: ‘It is good to have the veil of our conceit torn occasionally’. He urged the cartoonist on, saying ‘Don’t spare me Shankar.’ Nehru even used to enclose Shankar’s cartoons in his letters to his daughter Indira Gandhi when he was in prison.  

Those were different times, those were different people!

Shankar founded the Children’s Book Trust (CBT) in 1957 to ‘to promote the production of well written, well illustrated and well designed books for children.’ CBT has been bringing out high-quality books in English and Indian languages and these are highly subsidized, to make them widely accessible. In 1968, CBT started a magazine called Children’s World. An International Children’s Competition for Painting and Writing has been on-going since 1951. These were pioneering initiatives.

Shankars Dolls Museum

But maybe the most innovative idea was The Shankar’s International Dolls Museum, which has now grown into one of the largest collections of costume dolls anywhere in the world, housing over 7500 dolls from 85+ countries. And it all started with a single doll—sometime in the ‘fifties, the Hungarian Ambassador gave Shankar a typical doll from his country, to give away as one of the prizes in the International Children’s Competition. So fascinated did Shankar become with this doll that he started collecting costume-dolls whenever he travelled.

He did not just do this for his own enjoyment. He often held exhibitions so that children of all strata could see and enjoy them. Pandit Nehru and Indira Gandhi visited one such event, and Indira Gandhi suggested then that Shankar should set up a permanent museum of these dolls. The idea slowly crystallized, and the Museum was inaugurated in 1965. The building where it was housed was appropriately named Nehru House. Nehru gifted a large number of dolls to the Museum and these were the core around which the collection was built. Subsequent PMs as well as Ambassadors and visiting dignitaries from various countries also added special and unique dolls from their nations.  And thereby, a landmark institution was created.

While these were pioneering ideas in their times, the question that needs to be asked is how can the Museum be made relevant for today? How can modern understanding of museums and collections be brought in to revitalize the display and hold the attention of today’s children? The collection is unique ,and the rich collection of artefacts would be a dream for many a researcher to delve into –how can that be facilitated?

We are sitting on a treasure-trove. If we respect the legacy left by Pandit Nehru and Shankar, we have a duty to use this better.

Happy Children’s Day!

–Meena

Pic from https://www.childrensbooktrust.com/dollsmuseum.html

Fun and Games

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Play is something the young of many species indulge in. Play is of course a part of the life of young humans, but we also see puppies, kittens, the young of many mammals and even some birds play.

The study of play is however, a serious matter, as can be seen from this definition: ’ play is repeated, seemingly non-functional behavior differing from more adaptive versions structurally, contextually, or developmentally, and initiated when the animal is in a relaxed, un-stimulating, or low stress setting’ (Burghardt, 2014).

If that sounds a bit complex, here is a breakdown of the behaviours associated with play, i.e. play should

‘*be incompletely functional in the context in which it appears;

*be spontaneous, pleasurable, rewarding, or voluntary;

*be different from other more serious behaviors in form (for example, be exaggerated) or timing (for example, occur early in life, before the more serious version is needed);

* be repeated, but not in abnormal and unvarying stereotypic form (for example, rocking or pacing); and

* be initiated in the absence of severe stress.’

Till a few decades ago, it used to be believed that only the young of warm-blooded animals and birds played. But research is showing that many other creatures play too, including the young of some fish, frogs, lizards, turtles and even Komodo dragons. Coming from a human perspective, we may not recognize this as play. But going by the definition and framework above, many of the activities of the young of these species fall in the category.

Play is of critical importance in the development of all species who indulge in it. In the case of human children, it helps in the development of cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being. It helps children learn about themselves and the world, and through play they learn many life-skills like confidence, resilience, cooperation, team spirit, coping with challenging situations etc.

Play itself can be of different types: Physical Play, which helps in physical development and skills like coordination; Social Play which helps children develop the skills of how to interact with others, taking turns, cooperation, etc.; Constructive Play, wherein children create things—arts and crafts including drawing, painting, building things, etc.; Fantasy Play, that is using the imagination to create situations and enacting parts; and Games with Rules, which helps the child develop cognitively and learn how to follow instructions and rules.

If the topic of the conversation is play, can toys be far behind? Toys too date back to ancient times– archaeologists excavating the ancient city of Kültepe Kaniş-Karum in Turkey discovered a 4,000 year old ceramic rattle, which is believed to be the oldest children’s toy yet uncovered.

Toys
Photocredit: Harini M.

Today toys and games are a highly sophisticated market with several categories including puzzles, dolls, soft toys, fidget toys, modelling clay and related products, movable vehicles, construction toys, constructed toys, board games etc. 

It is also a huge market–in 2022, this market generated total revenue of US$122.90 billion. India is a tiny part of this—with the Indian toys market size reaching $ 1.5 billion last year, with barely $ 1.14 per capita spend on toys. Which means most of our children don’t have access to toys, or have too few toys—which is definitely disadvantages their development. Not that I am saying that store-bought toys are the only way to go. We know that children show enormous ingenuity in making anything into a toy–kitchen vessels, sticks and stones, boxes and cartons. And creative parents and teachers can make toys at no or low-cost. (For ideas, you can visit https://arvindguptatoys.com/, the website of Padma Shri awardee Shri Arvind Gupta, who has spent his life developing and advocating for the use of no- and low-cost toys with educational value). But having said that, I do believe that every child has the right to a new, shiny toy once in a while. So not only must we manufacture more toys, but low-cost, innovative ones which don’t compormise on safety.

Equally important are innovative ideas like toy libraries so each child does not have to buy every toy and less-advantaged children can get access too; toy hospitals so toys can be mended and their life extended;  and NGOs which collect, refurbish and re-distribute toys. Another complex challenge is how to keep toys from reaching solid waste dumps—how to recycle them safely and cost-effectively?

So toys may be fun and games, but it’s definitely not all child’s ply!

–Meena

PS: The image is from a storybook Harini and I created using toys as charecters. ‘My Sunday with Daadu and Deedu’ available on Amazon. The Telugu version by Manchi Pustakam is available on their site.

 

Of Ghosts and More: A Random Walk on Halloween

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It is Halloween today—a holiday that in the past decade or so has gained great popularity in India too.  The name ‘Halloween’ is linked to the Christian festival of ‘All Hallows’ or ‘All saints’ which falls on November 1. It was originally a day on which the church commemorated the lives of saints and martyrs. As time went along, it added on other connotations, such as praying for souls that were believed to be not yet in heaven or making offerings to the dead.

But what is the origin of Halloween as we celebrate it today? Well, it stems from an old belief that the spirits of the dead would roam the earth until All Saints Day, and that on Halloween they would take their last chance to have revenge on people they had a grouse against. That’s the reason why people dress up—in order to disguise themselves so the spirits would not recognise them!

Halloween

Of course, now in this as in many other festivals, it is commercial interests which drive the occasion, with costumes, masks, spooky decorations etc. becoming the theme for retail stores and festival sales.

Down history, the belief in ghosts and spirits has pervaded every culture—probably in an attempt to explain death, as well as phenomena which were not easily explainable by science. Witches, ghouls and other scary creatures exist in every country but they take different locale-specific manifestations.

In an interesting attempt to map the geography of these creatures, TheToyZone has developed what it calls a Boogeyman map. They see bogeymen as ’ frightening figures found all over the world, where they’re available to enforce discipline at a moment’s notice’—in other words, mainly a means of scaring small children into behaving themselves. The whimsically illustrated map shows over a hundred such fearsome creatures, with bat wings, reptilian bodies,  ghostly tattered robes, fire-breathing creatures and googly red eyes dominating.

As it is an attempt to cover the whole world, one can forgive the map for showing only one such creature from India—the bhoot. But the richness of the Indian ‘horror’ imagination can be estimated from ‘Assamese Demonology’ a 1905 book by scholar and researcher Benudhar. This classifies ghosts, demons and spirits of Assam into several categories., and the list includes ‘aquatic spirits like baank, dote, jakh, datial, jankakharia, jal-sai, jal-narayan and jal-konwar; sylvan spirits like chamon, burha-dangoriya, alakhani, pixach, daini, peret, bhoot, khetor, markuchia, prasuta, kandh, bira, parooa, khabish and thalgiri; celestial spirits like jam, bih-karam, kalika, deo, lakhimi, apeswari and bijuli; and subterranean spirits like gooloi’. And this is just one state!

Ghosts and spirits obviously don’t exist. Then why do so many people believe they have seen them? Science offers several explanations including sleep paralysis, hallucinations, pareidolia or inattentional blindness. 

Sleep paralysis is “like dreaming with your eyes open. Baland Jalal, nueroscientist explains it thus: ‘Our most vivid, lifelike dreams happen during a certain stage of sleep. It’s called rapid eye movement, or REM, sleep. In this stage, your eyes dart around under their closed lids. Though your eyes move, the rest of your body can’t. It’s paralyzed. Your brain usually turns this paralysis off before you wake up. But in sleep paralysis, you wake up while it’s still happening.’

Hallucinations: A hallucination is a false perception of objects or events involving the senses: sight, sound, smell, touch and taste. Hallucinations seem real, but they’re not. 

Pareidolia: This is a brain phenomenon in which a person sees or hears something significant in a random image or pattern. Pareidolia is what causes peoples to see faces in inanimate objects, i.e., faces in clouds, or the form of Gods on a tree bark etc. 

Inattentional blindness: This is the failure to notice unexpected objects or events when attention is focused elsewhere. 

But it is always a battle between the rational and the irrational, and belief in spirits and the like is not likely to go away in a hurry.

So we might as well let our children enjoy scaring themselves and over-dosing on sugar!

Happy Halloween.

–Meena

You’ve Got Mail!

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On October 9th, the world marked World Post Day, to commemorate the establishment of the Universal Postal Union in Bern, Switzerland on this day in 1874. Designated by the UN , ‘the purpose of World Post Day is to create awareness of the role of the postal sector in people’s and businesses’ everyday lives and its contribution to the social and economic development of countries.’ Emphasizing the importance of postal services, the UN says, ‘Post offices play a crucial role in fostering cohesive, inclusive, connected communities. Presently, over five million postal employees are entrusted with a variety of essential and personal items, from messages, gifts and goods, to money and medicines.’

India’s history of postal services long precedes 1874, with the East India Company opening its first post office in 1727. This was essentially used for the company’s own posts. The postal services were later taken over by the British Government and the services opened to the public. Many of the princely states as well as the Portuguese, Dutch and other colonial powers also ran their own postal services.

Taj Westend Postbox
India’s oldest functional post box at Taj Westend, Bangalore. Still cleared everyday except Sundays and holidays!

For many people today, posts and post offices don’t seem very relevant. I visit the post office more for investing money in some of schemes offered by them—they are safe and offer a decent interest rate. I haven’t posted a letter in decades, and in fact am suspicious of the few post boxes I see—are they ever cleared, I wonder. I do receive magazines and bulk posts, which are obviously not posted but given in at the post office. The one service I do occasionally use is the Speed Post service—takes about as long as non-premium couriers, and costs a lot less (to the extent that some courier companies use speed-post services to get their packages over the long distance, while they just do the collection and final delivery!).

But the postal service is obviously still very important in our country, going by the numbers. Even today, we have over 1, 55,000 post offices, and Inda’s Dept. of Posts has the most widely distributed postal network in the world. Close to 13.5 crore registered posts and over 30 crore speed posts have traversed the country during the year.

But the non-postal services of the post offices seems even more significant. They act as Aadhar updation centres, as Passport Seva kendras, as a means of paying utility bills and for distribution of direct benefit transfers. Apart of course from the various savings schemes and banking activities.

Yeoman service indeed.

But that is not to say that there is not tremendous scope for improvement, which is obvious even to the layest of lay-people. For instance, I subscribe for a weekly magazine, but I am lucky if I get 3 of 4 issues in any given month. And even then, the deliveries are bunched up—the postman may deliver 2 or 3 together because he can’t be bothered to come every week. So obviously some lacuna in monitoring systems.

And often I end up opting for couriers rather than speed-post for various reasons. The courier will come to my doorstep to pick up the package. And then there are the other flexibilities—speed posts will be accepted and delivered during working hours, on working days. But my packages get ready at the 12th hour, and the post offices shut by then. And so couriers are the only way to go.

And a visit to the post office is an activity for which you need to set aside at least a couple of hours.  Forms for any of the schemes are to be filled manually, and take 10-15 minutes to fill. Nor are they very clear, which means they often have to be re-done. The IPPB app is confusing and takes getting used to. The password expires ever so often and constantly needs to be reset. (That being said, I sincerely appreciate the patience of the postal staff in dealing with the dozens of people and scores of questions. )

India’s postal services definitely need to be re-imagined for tomorrow. We are the technology capital of the world, but it does not seem that adequate thought has gone into using technology in this sector.

But the amazing network created into the remotest parts of the country has the potential for providing the backbone for citizen services that can touch everyone, especially those in under-served areas.

So with three cheers for India Post!

–Meena

With Gratitude for Every Morsel of Food…

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The recurrent theme in the last few days has been FOOD.

First, the passing away of Dr. MS Swaminathan, the father of India’s Green Revolution at the age of 98. Today, we have forgotten the first few decades after Independence, when hunger was a reality for many in our country. At Independence, hardly 15 percent of agriculture was under irrigation. The food grain production was 50.8 million tonnes. Agricultural methods, tools and equipment, were centuries if not millennia old, and were grossly insufficient to feed the country’s growing population. On top of that, the vagaries of nature, which saw floods and droughts disrupting cultivation. Food insecurity and shortages were common, and two severe droughts 1964–65 and 1965–66 led to major food shortages and famines. We were dependent on food imports to feed our people, and many people doubted the survival of us as a nation, when we could not even fulfil this basic need.

It is this dismal scenario that pushed people to look for solutions that would make us food secure and food sufficient. And the hero of the hour was Dr. MS Swaminathan. Swaminathan, a student of zoology, who was a witness to the tragedy of the Bengal Famine of 1943 and frequent food shortages, decided to devote his life to improving this situation. And that is what he went on to do just this. He joined the Indian Agricultural Research Institute soon after Independence, and from there went on to do research and post-doctoral work in the subject. At IARI, he learnt about the work of Dr. Norman Borlaug in Mexico, where he had developed a dwarf variety of wheat which yielded more grain, and at the same time had stalks strong enough to hold the weight of the grains. Dr MS saw this as a beacon of hope and worked with Dr. Borlaug to develop improved crop varieties suitable for India. He also worked on fertilizers suitable for our conditions, as well as more efficient farming techniques. This laid the foundation for our Green Revolution, and paved the way for India not only to becoming self-sufficient in food, but becoming a grain basket for the world. Today, our food grain production is estimated at a record 330.5 million tonnes (MT).

The Green Revolution though the saviour, was however not without its flip-side. It needed increased amounts of chemical pesticides and fertilizers thus reducing the soil fertility and quality in the medium term; these crops needed more water; and it led to monocultures based on specific crops and varieties, leading to erosion of agri-biodiversity. Dr. Swaminathan recognized these issues, and for many years led the movement for what he termed ‘the Evergreen Revolution’ which focussed on more environmentally sustainable ways of increasing productivity of the land.

As a part of Centre for Environment Education, we were fortunate to have opportunities to meet and interact with this giant. He came to our campus maybe a few times a year, as Chairman of our sister-institution VIKSAT, and also as guide and mentor to many of our projects and initiatives. I had the good luck to work under his guidance when CEE was putting together Government of India’s official submissions to the World Summit on Sustainable Development, and he was one of the advisors to the process.

And coming to the other food-related events:

Oct 2 marks the birthday of Gandhiji, who believed that farmers, farming and rural India had to be at the core of any development in India. He summed it up with his statement: “To forget how to dig the earth and tend the soil is to forget ourselves. “

It also marks the birth anniversary of Lal Bahadur Shastri, our second Prime Minister, who gave the nation the slogan ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’, seeing soldiers and farmers at the same level when it comes to ensuring the nation’s security.

And Sept 29 also marks the observance of UN’s International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste. The goal of this day is to raise awareness on the importance of the problem and its possible solutions, and to promote global efforts and collective action towards meeting

And Sept 29 also marks the observance of UN’s International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste. The goal of this day is to raise awareness on the importance of the problem and its possible solutions, and to promote global efforts and collective action towards meeting Sustainable Development Goal Target 12.3, which aims to halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer level by 2030, and reduce food losses along the food production and supply chains.

No more appropriate time to ponder on our relationship to food, those who produce it, and how we interact with it. And lets not forget: the prevalence of undernourishment–the share of people who lack regular access to sufficient calories– is increasing, with as many as 828 million people undernourished in 2021.

With gratitude to all the farmers and farm workers; the policy-makers who understand their importance and respect them for their contribution; those who work on the science of it; and those who cook it.

We owe every mouthful to you all. And may we never forget it.

–Meena

Cough, cough…

~ millennialmatriarchs ~ Leave a comment

For the past few weeks, I was plagued by a cough. I am assured by sources that it is very good for me to cough—for instance, the Cleveland Clinic says ‘A cough is a natural reflex that is your body’s way of removing irritants from your upper (throat) and lower (lungs) airways. A cough helps your body heal and protect itself.’

I am yet to be convinced!

There are apparently many ways of classifying coughs.  One is related to how long they last. Acute coughs are those which start suddenly and last a few weeks. Sub-acute ones follow infections, and last for a month or two. Chronic coughs persist longer than 2 months. And Refractory coughs are chronic coughs which don’t respond to treatment.

Another way of classifying them is in terms of whether or not they produce mucous. Dry coughs are those which do not. Productive or wet coughs bring up phlegm or mucous.

Some coughs come on at night, and are called nocturnal or night-time coughs. Others are day-time coughs.

Some types of coughs produce distinctive sounds and indicate the underlying condition: e.g., the whooping cough where the cough sounds like a ‘whoop’ is a specific infection. A barking cough may be an indicator of croup. And when coughing is accompanied by wheezing, it may be associated with some infections or with asthma.

Vaska plant
Vasaka plant, native to the Indian subcontinent, forms a basis for many cough syrups

And what about treatments? Well, you can take a cough syrup, a lozenge or rub on something.

Of cough syrups also, there are different types: Suppressants or antitussives do their job by blocking your cough reflex. These are for dry coughs and that itch in the throat. Then there are Expectorants, which thin mucous and phlegm, making it easier for them to be coughed out.  There are also combination cough syrups which typically combine expectorants with decongestants and an antihistamine.

Rub-ons or topical applications include trusted household names like Amrutanjan.which has a nature-based cold relief balm. Such products usually have menthol and camphor, and applying them to the throat offers a soothing sensation in the area and relieves some of the associated pain. 

Cough drops are the tablets we keep in our mouth, which soothe our throats and give us relief from coughing. These are used to temporarily help relieve symptoms such as sore throat, throat irritation, or cough. They work by providing a cooling feeling and increasing saliva in the mouth. Home remedy equivalents are sucking on cloves or cardamoms.

There are research studies which show that actually, not many of these store-bought medications really work any better than home remedies. The good old haldi-doodh (now fashionably called Golden Latte) is a tried and tested way to soothe the throat. A kada or decoction of tulsi, black pepper, cloves and assorted spices is often effective. Ginger tea with lemon is a sure winner.

Gargling is also an effective way to manage coughs. A salt water gargle creates a sort of osmosis effect and the salt concentration draws fluids and bacteria from the mouth, Salt water gargles neutralize swelling, and pain, and help soothe the throat region. The salt water breaks up mucus and irritants in the throat. Gargling with a salt water mixture also helps neutralize the throat acids, which helps to suppress bacterial growth.

Steam inhalations help too–they help to soothe and open their nasal passages when they have a cold or sinus infection. The warm, moist air is thought to loosen mucus and relieve symptoms.

I hope you don’t have a cough. But if you do, you are probably in good company—in the US, it is apparently the top reason people see a doctor – over 30 million visits a year.

–Meena